Sports

Winston-Salem State football is getting plenty of national preseason love.

The Rams, coming off a school- and CIAA-best 14-1 record and runner-up finish in the Division II playoffs, is ranked sixth in Lindy’s Football Annual preseason poll. Valdosta State, which beat WSSU 35-7 in the national title game, is ranked No. 1, followed by West Texas A&M.

Lenoir-Rhyne is the only other N.C. team to make the rankings, is No. 20. Tuskegee, which plays WSSU Sept. 21 in Cleveland, is 23rd.